§ MR. BEITH (Inverness, &C.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies if a formal protest has been received at the Colonial Office from all of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong against the Third Reading and passing of the Appropriation Ordinance for 1893 (Ordinance No. 12 of 1892) in which they affirm that the sums included for salaries and official expenses were much in excess of what was necessary, and what the Colony could afford; if such sums for the salaries, &c, were included by the Committee of Council over-ruling the decision of the Finance Committee, which had passed resolutions amending the Estimates for 1893, and reducing the corresponding items in the Appropriation Ordinance; and if, in view of this protest and the known depressed condition 222 of affairs in the Colony, the Secretary of State for the Colonies will grant the prayer of the protestors, that an independent Commission be appointed with full power to investigate and report on the condition of affairs in Hong Kong and the relative cost of the administration?
§ MR. S. BUXTONThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, the facts are as therein stated; but it should be noted that the increases of salary of which complaint is made, which date from 1891, were sanctioned by Lord Ripon's predecessor on the recommendation of a Committee almost entirely composed of unofficial members of Council. With regard to the third part of the question, while Lord Ripon cannot assent to the reduction of the salaries of the holders of office, he is fully alive to the fact that the expenditure on establishment in Hong Kong is very high, and he is taking measures, consistently with respect to the claims of existing officers, to reduce it. The question of an inquiry is under his consideration.